Package and method of producing same



Dec. 12, 1950 o. M. BYERLY ,53

PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Sept. 21, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheetl INVENTOR.

Dec. 12, 1950 o. M. BYERLY 2,533,554

PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Sept. 21, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTOR.

OZzTz/er/Yqerfl Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEPACKAGE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING SAME Oliver M. Byerly, Chicago,

Ill., minor to Walter E. Hausheer, Evanston, Ill. Application September21, 1945, Serial No. 617,749 6 Claims. (Cl. 200-46) This inventionrelates generally to the packaging of merchandise of various kinds,particularly those such as certain food products which are bestpreserved and maintained in a marketable 1 condition in hermeticallysealed packages.

Many products, the character or flavor of which is best maintained whenpackaging in hermetically sealed packages, do not justify the ex ense ofglass or tinplate jars, cans or similar containers, and it is inconnection with the marketing of products of this character such as souptioned the fact that the packages made of such material have beennothing more than flatbags resembling envelopes which when filled withbulky material bulge and wrinkle and present a quite unattractiveappearance. This fact will be particularly appreciated when onerecognizes that these packages are formed by sealing together themargins of a pair of sheets of foil, the opposed faces of which havebeen provided with thermoplastic sealing material, so that-when themargins are pressed together under the influence of heat they aresecured together, thus forming a marginal flat sealing area entirelysurrounding the package. The contents of the package do not, therefore,approach the edges of the package, but are confined to the centralportion of the package. The bulging and wrinkling induced by thepresence of the contents in this central portion surrounded by theadhesively united margins of substantial width so wrinkles the marginsas to often impair the sealing of the package and distorts anddisfigures the package as a whole so that decorative ornamentationapplied to the package is rendered unattractive and printed matterbecomes distorted and frequently illegible.

and decorative ornamentation will be attractively displayed.

Another purpose is to provide a pack f the character indicated which,while formed of relatively flexible foil or laminated material, will beso constructed that it will retain its shape and will not, if handledwith reasonable care, become distorted or disfigured.

. Another feature of my invention resides in the fact that the package,instead of having flat marginal portions surrounding the contents, asheretofore, is substantially rectangular in crosssection, comprisingtop, bottom and side walls which are self-sustaining andnon-collapsible.

The package, therefore, willretain its shape and will present anattractive and sales inducive appearance when displayed. In addition tothe advantageous features above enumerated, a package constructed inaccordance with my invention is hermetically sealed and moisture-proof,so that the contents, irrespective of the degree of hygroscopicity, willbe maintained in the condition of dryness possessed when the package wassealed.

Another purpose of my invention is to provide a method .by whichcontainers in accordance with my invention may be simultaneously formed,

filled and sealed in rapid succession. The method In fact, the wholepackage fails to present that contemplated provides for the expeditiousand economical production of attractive and merchantable packages.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I haveillustrated on the accompanying drawings a preferred form of package andmethod for producing the same, from which in connection with thefollowing description my invention and many of its inherent advantageswill be readily appreciated.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a package made in accordance with myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig.2;

apparatus looking 3 downward in the direction of the arrows on thesection line;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 9-9 of Fig. 10 is a fragmentalsectional view on the line Ill-l of Fig. 6;

Fig. ll'is a fragmental sectional view on the line lI-H 'ofFig.6; and

Fig. 12 is a similar view on the line |2l2 of Fig. 6.

In the production of a package in accordance before the container iscompleted, and thereupon the filled orcharged container is closed andhermetically sealed. Thus an attractive impervious package is provided,in which the merchandise is protected and maintained in its originalcondition until the package is opened by the user.

The wider of the two sheets employed, which is designated on the drawinggenerally by reference character l3 (Fig. '7), is withdrawn from a rollof material (not shown). During its manufacture the foil sheet materialis coated on one face with a thermoplastic adhesive by which the sheetswhen subjected to heat and pressure are sealed together along the areathus treated.

The strip or sheet I3 is, as previously stated, unwound from a supplyroll and passed first between a pair of positively driven corrugating orembossing rolls l4 and I5 provided with cooperating ribs and depressionsadapted to provide said sheet with three rows of transversely extendingstrengthening ribs and depressions. The center row comprises the flutesor depressions [6 extending transversely of the sheet and arranged inspaced groups, as will be apparent from Fig. 5, leaving intervening flatunembossed areas I! for the application thereto of printed matter ordecorative ornamentation.

As will be apparent from Figs. 4 and 5, the corrugations l6 terminatesome distance from the side edges of the sheet and that area at eachside of the row of corrugations I6 is also provided with flutes orcorrugations l8 along one side, as indicated in Fig. l, and similarflutes or corrugations l9 along the other side, as illustrated in Fig.3. These corrugations are also arranged in spaced apart groups and thecorrugations near the ends of each group are progressively shorter inlength as illustrated, to enable the container to be shaped as shown.

The sheet l3 after being processed by the re l4 and I5 to form the threerows of corrugations, each row comprising spaced apart groups oftransversely extending parallel flutes, as described, is next subjectedto the action of a pair of folding rolls 2! and 22 which fold themargins provided with the flutes l8 and I!) so as to dispose them atright angles to the plane of the sheet 13, as illustrated in Fig. 8. Ahollow mandrel 23 of rectangular cross-section serves as a form aboutwhich the sheet is folded as it travels in continuous motion along themandrel from top to bottom, as indicated in Figs. 6 and 7. The outer orfree margins of these side flanges of the sheet are then bent outwardlyinto a plane parallel with the plane of the sheet [3 by suitable meansincluding supporting bars 24 (Fig. '7) against which the thus disposedmargins 25 rest, as shown in this figure. Simultaneously the other sheet26 is laid against the exposed faces of these flanges and over the thenuncovered face of the mandrel.

Sheet 26, which is also faced with a thermoplastic adhesive, iswithdrawn from a supply roll (not shown) and passed first betweencorrugating or embossing rolls 2'! and 28 by which the flutes orcorrugations 29, corresponding in length and arrangement to the flutesI6 in sheet I3, are formed. It will be apparent from the drawings,particularly Figs. 2 and 5, that the flutes 29 are arranged in spacedapart groups to leave intervening spaces 3| for the reception anddisplay of printed matter, ornamentation or the like. The sheet 26,which is of the width of sheet I3 when folded to provide the side wallsand laterally extending margins of Fig. 10, is laid against the face ofthe mandrel and upon the margins 25 as it leaves the embossing roll 28,whereupon the superposed margins provided on their opposed contactingfaces with thermoplastic adhesive are passed between a pair of spacedapart heated rolls 32 and a cooperating pressure roll 33 whereby theadhesive is plasticized and under the roll pressure the margins arepressed together so as to form a hermetic seal and thereby provide ineffect a long rectangular tube of foil having laterally projectingmargins of the material hermetically sealed together.

As the tube progresses through the machine it is subjected to the actionof a pair of folding devices in the form of curved plates or wings 34and 35 which first bend the sealed together margins upwardly, asillustrated in Fig. 11, and then fold them over onto the outer face ofthe sheet 26, as exemplified in Fig. 12. The-tube,

therefore, is not only hermetically sealed where the margins of thesheets l3 and 2B overlap, but the overlapping sealed margins are foldedover against the exposed face of sheet 26 to form the seams 36 and 31along the margins of one-face of the tube and on one face of thecompleted package, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 4.

My invent-ion contemplates not only the pro-- duction of a hermeticallysealed tube in the manner thus far described, but also the formationfrom such tube of a series of structurally independent containers, andin addition the filling of such containers with merchandisesimultaneously with their formation and the hermetic sealing of the endsof such containers when formed. With these purposes in view, the upperend of the hollow mandrel 23 is connected by a chute 38 with a hopper ormagazine 39 containing a supply of the merchandise such as milk powder,dehydrated soup or other products to be packaged. From the supply hopperthe mandrel is kept continuously supplied with the merchandise to bepackaged and a predetermined quantity of such merchandise or material isdischarged at timed intervals from the lower end of the mandrel into thesurrounding tube by the automatic and timed opening and closing of agate or valve 4| adapted to close the lower end of the mandrel.

As the charge of merchandise is admitted into the tube by the opening ofthe gate 41', the tube is flattened and sealed transversely at a pointIindicated by 42 (Fig. '7) a spaced distance amass sealed partitionacross the tube which limits the downward travel in the tube of themerchandise discharged from the mandrel. I

Theiilled portion'of the tube proceeds pas the rolls and 44 to bring thetransverse partition into position to be severed transversely by one ofthe cutters ll carried by the. roll ll and adapted to cooperate with'acompanion roll 49. In this manner the filled section of the tube isseparated and becomes the completed package consisting of a,hermetically sealed container filled with the merchandise.Simultaneously with the severance of the completed package from thetube, the succeeding filled tube section is sealed at its upper end bythe rolls 4! and I4,

as previously described and as illustrated in Fig. 7.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided anhermetically sealed, package formed from impervious foil which is sostrengthened by the corrugations or flutes in the top, bottom and sidewalls as to be self-sustaining and sufficiently strong and rigid tomaintain its shape without deformation under reasonably careful handlingconditions such as articles of this character commercially receive. Thepackage is formed, filled and sealed during the continuous passage ofstrips or sheets of suitable material through a machine. Consequently,the production, which is rapidly accomplished without manual handling ofeither the container material or the container contents, is desirablyand commercially economical.

The structural details of the apparatus and the procedure of the methodas well as the structural details of the package itself are capable ofconsiderable modification and variation within the scope of my inventioning claims.

Iclaim: 1. The method of producing a merchandise package, whichcomprises providing a sheet of metal foil with a plurality of rows ofspacedapart' transversely extending corrugations arranged in groups,forming said sheet into channel-shape with transversely extendingflanges, corrugatlng a second narrower sheet of metal foil, applyingsaid second sheet to said channelshaped form, sealing the margins ofsaid sheets together in substantially metal-to-metal contact to providea hermetically sealed tube of substantially rectangular cross-section,folding the sealed margins against a face of the tube, delivering acharge of merchandise into the tube at predetermined intervals, sealingthe tube along a transverse line ahead of .saidicharge to confine thecharge therein, sealing the tube transversely rearwardly of the chargeto produce a sealed tubular section containing such charge, and dividingsaid section from the remaining tube.

2. A water and air impervious container havas defined inthe follow-- inga commodity sealed therein, said container. including a wide sheet and anarrow sheet of thin and impervious metal of foil type, the wide sheetbeing of channel shape having marginal sealing portions along thechannel side edges, the narrow sheet including the side marginal edgesthereof being of a width substantially equal to the transverse dimensionof the channel plus 8 the widths of said marginal sealing portions ofthe wide sheet, the narrow sheet being disposed over said channel withits side marginal edge portions disposed against the marginal portionsof the wide sheet at the exterior of the container, an imperviousthermoplastic material between the said marginal edge portionsandsealing said edge portions together throughout their lengths insubstantially 'metal-to-metal contact, said sealed marginal edgeportions being folded upon the adjacent exterior surface of thecontainer and said sheets at opposite endsof the channel being. sealedtogether in substantially metal-to-metal contact from end to end thereoftransversely of the channel by an impervious thermoplastic material, aplurality of rigidifying corrugations in the sides of the channel of thewide sheet and extending transversely of the length thereof between saidmarginal sealing portions and the bottom of the channel, transverselyextending corrugations across the bottom of the channel, and a pluralityofcorrugations in the narrow sheet extending transversely of its lengthbetween said sealing portions of the wide sheet.

3. A water and airimpervious container having a commodity sealedtherein, said container including a wide sheet and a narrow sheet ofthin and impervious metal of foil type, the wide sheet being formed intochannel-shape with marginal sealing portions along the channel sideedges, the narrow sheet including the side marginal edges thereof beingof a width substantially equal to the transverse dimension of thechannel plus the widths of said marginal sealing portions of the widesheet, the narrow sheetbeing disposed over said channel with itsside'marginal edge portions disposed against the marginal sealingportions of the wide sheet and extending outwardly of the container, animpervious thermoplastic material between the said marginal edgeportions and sealing said edge portions together throughout theirlengths in substantially metalto-metal contact, said sheets at theopposite ends of the channel being sealed together in substan- 1 tiallymetal-to-metal contact from end to end thereof transversely of thechannel by an impervious thermoplastic material, the sealed side edgeportions being folded down to lie' against an adjacent surface ofthecontainer, a plurality of 'rigidifying corrugations in'the sides of thechan- "gations in the narrow sheet extending trans versely of its lengthbetween said sealing portions I of the wide sheet.

4. The method of forming a substantially continuous series ofsubstantially identical packages, with a commodity enclosed therein,from a pair of substantially continuousstrips of impervious metal foilwherein one of the stripsis wider than the other which comprises,feeding the strips substantially continuously,embossing the wide stripat predetermined intervals along its length to provide a central andintermittent series of transversely extending ribs and alateraltransversely extending and substantially continuous series of ribs ateach side of and spaced from both said central seriesof ribs and theside edges of the strip, folding the wide strip sides in the same 7 andcentral series of ribs whereby to form a channel in the strip, embossingthe second or narrow strip at predetermined intervals along its lengthwith a series of ribs extending transversely of the strip, said ribs ,ofthe narrow strip terminating short of the side edges of the stripwhereby to leavean unembossed margin at each side thereof, securing theunembossed margins of the narrow strip'to the corresponding unembossedmarginal edges of the wide strip by the application of a thermoplasticand heat whereby the strip edge margins make a continuous and imperviousand substantially metal-to-metal contact with one another, folding saidsecured margins down against the face of an adJacent side of-the thusformed tube, placing a commodity within each of successive predeterminedlengths of such tube as determined by predetermined intervals betweenembossings, and thereafter flattening and sealing the tube inthe spacesprovided by the said predetermined intervals between embossings for asubstantial width in the direction of the strip lengths and for theentire transverse width of the tube.

5. The method of forming a substantially continuous series ofsubstantially identical packages assess from a pair of substantiallycontinuous strips of impervious metal foil wherein one of the strips iswider than the other which comprises, feeding the strips substantiallycontinuously, embossing the wide strip at predetermined intervals alonits length to provide a central and intermittent series of transverselyextending ribs and a lateral transversely extending and substantiallycontinuous series of ribs at each side of and spaced from both saidcentral series of ribs and the side. edges of the strip, folding thewide strip sides in the same general direction and at an angle to thestrip portion therebetween along fold lines extending longitudinally ofthe strip between said lateral and central series of ribs whereby toform a channel in the strip, embossing the second or narrow strip atpredetermined intervals along its length with a single central series ofribs similar to the central series of the wide strip, said ribs of thenarrow strip terminating short of the side edges of the strip whereby toleave an unembossed margin at each side thereof, securing the unembossedmargins of the narrow strip to the corresponding unembossed marginaledges of the wide strip by the application of a thermoplastic and heatwhereby the strip edge margins make a continuous and impervious andsubstantially metal to metal contact with one another, folding saidsecured margins down against the face of an adjacent side of the thusformed tube, plac-' ing a commodity within each of successivepredetermined lengths of such tube as determined by predeterminedinterval between embossings, and thereafter flattening and sealing thetube in the spaces provided by the said predetermined intervals betweenembossings forthe entire transverse width of the tube.

6. The method of forming a substantially continuous series ofsubstantially identical packages from a pair of substantially continuousstrips of impervious metal foil wherein one of the strips is wider thanthe other which comprises, feeding the strips substantiallycontinuously, embossingthe wide strip at. predetermined intervals alongits length to provide a central and intermittent series of transverselyextending ribs and a lateral transversely extending and substantiallycontinuous series of ribs at each side of and spaced from both saidcentral series of ribs and the side edges of the strip, folding the widestrip sides in the same general direction and at an angle to the stripportion therebetween along foldlines extending longitudinally ofthe-strip between said lateral and central series of ribs whereby toform a channel in the strip, embossing the second or narrow strip atpredetermined intervals along its length with a series of ribs extendingtransversely of the strip, said ribs of the narrow strip terminatingshort of the side edges of the strip whereby to leave an unembossedmargin at each side thereof, securing theunembossed margins of thenarrow strip to the corresponding unembossed marginal edges of the widestrip by the application of a thermoplastic and heat whereby the stripedge margins make a continuous and I impervious and substantiallymetal-to-metal contact with one another, folding said secured marginsdown against the face of 'an adjacent side of the thus formed tube,placing a commodity within each of successive predetermined lengths ofsuch tube as determined by predetermined intervals between embossings,thereafter flattening and sealing the tube in the spaces provided by thesaid predetermined intervals between embossings for a substantial areaextending over the entire transverse width of the tube, and severing theresultant containers from one another by transversely shearing bothstrips wholly within the area of sealing.

. OLIVER M. BYERLY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain July 31, 1930

